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Download May 2017 - Museums Wellington
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What’s up in Space? May 2017 The Brightest Stars in the Sky The chart is oriented for April 15 at 10pm NZST May 1 at 9pm NZST May 15 at 8pm NZST June 1 at 7pm NZST Our evening skies this month are dominated by Jupiter and Saturn, along with some of our brightest stars. Jupiter will be one of the first objects to appear, visible in the north east shortly after the Sun has set. Just to the right of Jupiter is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and below, just above the horizon is orange coloured Arcturus, the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and the 4th brightest in the night sky. Arcturus has a similar mass to the Sun, but has already expanded to become a red giant, with 25 times the diameter and 170 times the luminosity of our own star. When close to the horizon it often appears to twinkle red and green as its light is broken up by our atmosphere. All three brighter stars are in the southern hemisphere, and are also visible in our evening skies this month. The brightest, Sirius, sits halfway up the western sky, with Orion’s belt, now almost vertical, below. Rigel and Betelgeuse, the seventh and ninth brightest stars sit to either side of the belt. Both Orion and Sirius will soon disappear from our evening skies, before reappearing just before the Sun in the morning over the coming months. The second brightest star, Canopus, is circumpolar here in New Zealand, never dropping below the horizon. This month it sits a little higher than Sirius, further around towards the south west. To complete the trio, the third brightest star, Alpha Centauri is high in the south east, pointing the way to the Southern Cross. Below Alpha Centauri, rising in the twilight sky, is the curve of stars marking our winter constellation, Scorpius/ Te Matau a Māui. Its brightest star, Antares/Rehua, is a variable star and is on average the 15th brightest in the night sky. Antares, one of the largest stars known, is a red supergiant almost 900 times the diameter of the Sun. If it were placed at the centre of the Solar System, its surface would extend to the middle of the asteroid belt. Below Antares, and rising a little later in the evening, is bright, cream coloured Saturn. It’s a great time to observe Saturn through a small telescope this month, with its rings close to maximum tilt.